On Monday night (March 2), Cool Amerika hosted a listening event for Atlanta media at the Aroma Lounge, just a few miles away from where the two rappers, Stunt and Bally, and their go-to producer, Budda Bless, met as adolescents. “We came up on the east side of Atlanta, in Decatur,” Stunt tells The Boombox with a grin. “Like, we’ve been knowing each other and working since seventh, eighth grade.”

“Cool Amerika was actually an idea before it was a brand,” he continues. “We were underprivileged children who wanted to do everything from rapping, producing, making videos, becoming a DJ. Anything they didn’t teach you in school. That’s what Cool Amerika was at first, then we made it us. The idea’s not over but we’re working on Cool Amerika as a group. So we can turn it into a movie.”

Now, here they are, turning it all into something film-worthy. At a fancy hookah bar on the other side of Decatur, the guys are celebrating the release of their second project, No Taxes 2, which plays out as a film from track-to-track. They’ve signed to the growing AMG Alliance imprint and are being co-signed by some of the biggest names in southern hip-hop including Bigga Rankin -- former VP of Young Jeezy’s CTE label. "Cool Amerika is what’s right now,” says Rankin. “They got it and now we’re gonna help them go the next level. These guys are stars with great music, this mixtape will make the world stop and listen. I believe in them.”

Not only are the three gaining traction amongst industry playmakers but even fellow artists have offered their blessing, from the Migos to Nipsey Hussle. Cool Amerika tapped the latter for their new song, "Hustlers Ambition." “He was in the city and we went to a listening party he was having," Bally says of Nipsey. "When we met him it was just good vibes so we linked in, did it and it was a banger.”

The track, which features crisp piano keys, opens with Stunt speaking on directly where the guys' ambition comes from. "Hustler's ambition / Get it up or take it / My fam depends on me, if I let them down how could I face 'em?" they rap. Budda Bless allows the beat to build in the first few bars, but by the time Nipsey rolls out his verse, the production is bass-heavy and full of bouncy synths.

"Put in work too long / I done worked too hard / Got up out these streets / With a purple heart / So don't start with us / Rap n----s ain't hard enough," Nipsey raps.

“Hustlers Ambition” is one of the standout tracks from the No Taxes 2 mixtape, which debuts Tuesday, and -- like much of the project -- the song is produced by Budda Bless. “I’m not that type of producer that likes to email beats,” Budda shares. “I pull up and cook up. You get to catch a vibe with them. It creates more of a solid sound rather than just something generic.”